Sectional pneumatic tire.



M. P. PRINCE & G. M. BERNHEIMER.

SEG'IIONAL PNEUMATIC TIBE- APPLIOATIOH rrnnn 1111.15, 1912.

1,054,312. Patented Feb. 25. 1913.

we 7zrs.

g 0: n 2 WM UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORTON 'PEAIBODY PRINCE, OF CAMBRIDGE, AND CLEMENT M. BERNHEIMER, OF

' NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

sncrtonar. PNEUMATIC TIRE.

Specification of Let'ters Patent. I Patented Feb, 25, 1913.

Application filed January '15, 1912. Serial m5. 671,381.

To: all whom a'my concern .Be' it known} that we, Mon'mn PEABODY Pnmcn, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Cambridge, county of. Middlesex,

State.ofi'Massachusetts, and CLEMENT M.

- BERNHEIMERQa citizen of'the United States,

residingiat 'Newburypor t, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Sectional Pneumatic Tires,

of which the following description, in connection with'the accompanying drawing, is

specification," like characters on the drawing representing like parts. This inventionrelates to sectional pneumatic tires in which the tire is made of a plurality of separate sections capable of being independently inflated and deflated and'removed from the rim of the wheel, and

'- each comprising a shoe member and an inner air tube member, and the object of the invention is to provide a sectional tire of the .-one-p1ece,inner air tubes.

character described, in which the sectional tire will be uniformly resilient throughout its length and providedwith a maximum circumferential air support, which" is sub-. .stantially equal in riding eli'ect to ,the tires closely to the pneumatic support afforded tire .ma

by theone-piecej inn r air tube now com inonly used, whereby the sectional pneumatic d have imparted to it the desirable easy'ri mg feature of the one-piece tire having a continuous inner air tube, with the additional advantages resulting from the sectional construction or the tire..in case of puncture or blow-out.

Referringto the drawings wherein we have illustrated the preferred embodiment of ourlinvention Fi ure 1 is a side view of the tire embodying 51c invention with a part broken out; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. of one of the sections of the tire detached and deflated; Fig. .3 is an enlarged section on substantially the line-lw-w, Fig.

' tires.

4 1 Fig. '{tflis a view of the sectional clamping ring.

1.designates. a wheel body which may have any suitable or usual construction and is shown as provided with the usual wooden felly 2. 13 is the telly band which is made in one continuous piece and which has integral therewith at one edge the. flange 4 for gripping the head or head 5 on the shoe of the tire. The tire is made of a plu-' rality of independent sections, there being five such sections herein shown. Each section com rises an outer shoe member or casing 6 an an inner air tube member 7, each inner tube having a valve 8 associated there-' with, the stem of which extends through the felly'band and felly 2 and through which the inner tube can be inflated, as usual. Each shoe member. 6 is provided on each edge thereof with the beads or heads 5, and

onits inner side with a longitudinal slot 9 through which the inner tube 7 may be inserted into place. One side of. each shoe member may be formed with a flap 10 which closes the slot' 9, as shown in Fig. 3, and which.' prevents the inner tube from being forced out through the slot when said tube is inflated.

The tire sections are arranged end to end with the end walls of the shoe members abutting each other as usual in sectional The meeting ends of, the shoe nelnbers 6 are provided in the present instance with interlocking projections and recesses 11 and 12, the projections on one shoe member fitting the recesses on the other for the purpose of holding the ends of the shoe members in their proper, position relative to each other. The shoe members are held 'in place by a sectional clamping ring formed of ring sections 13, each of which is of a length corresponding to that of. the shoe' member 6. These clamping ring sections 13 are arranged to clench over the heads 5 'on one side of the shoe, and each section is provided with studs 14 extending therefrom, which studs pass through openings in the folly band 3 and are engaged by clamping nuts 15. The flange 4 and sectional rings 13 constitute a clencher rim for engaging the tire. Each clamping ring section 13 is independentlyremovable and as each section corresponds to one,,of the tire sections it is possible to remove any tire section by simply removing the corresponding clamping ring section 13 without disturbing any of the other tire sections.

In sectional tires ot the character described and known to us. there is necessarily a greater or less mass of solid rubber at the ends Where the ad acent shoe members meet, and as a result the tire is less resilient at such points than it is at the points where the air chambers are situated because of the fact that the solid rubber has less resiliency than the air, and further because theinner air tubes of adjacent sections are substantially widely separated by the interposed mass.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a sectional tire of the character described, which is of substantially uniform resiliency throughout its circum- .ferential length and whose riding qualities This increase in the yielding quality of the wardly at their central portion, as shown in' material of the shoe member at the ends thereof can be secured either by making said ends of slightly different material or by controlling the vulcanizing process so that the ends or shaded portions of the shoe member (i is treated differently. The particular manner of securing this increase in the yielding quality in the ends of the shoe members is not essential, the important point being a shoe. member in which the ends thereof have a more yielding or pliant quality than the body or tread portion thereof.

In forming the shoe members 6 they may be molded with the longitudinal peripheral line 16 occupying normally a flatter curve than the periphery of the wheel when it is inflated and with the tread portion ofthe shoe thicker at its central portion, as at 17, than adjacent the ends. When the tire sections are inflated they tend to swell outdotted line Fig. 2, and by molding them with the longitudinal peripheral curve 16 normally flatter than the true. curve of the wheel, this tendency to swell outwardly will merely result in bringing the periphery of the wheetint'o a true circular shape. The extra thickness of the point 17 strengthens the shoe at this point and prevents it from bulging outwardly beyond the proper-curve.

A sectional tire embodying our invention is uniformly resilient throughout its length due to the fact that the ends of the shoe members where they meet are made of material having greater yielding qualities than the portion of the shoemember inclosing the air chamber. By making the end walls of the shoe members more resilient than the tread portions of said. members, the said end walls are capable of yielding under the air pressure in the air tube members and the latter are-thus permitted to elongate, so that adjacent ends of the air tube members within adjacent {shoe members are brought nearer to each other, which is permitted in the present instaiice, by the compression of said end walls in the direction of the length of said shoe members, and as a result the distance between adjacent inner air tube members is reduced and acircumferential air support tor the tread portions of the sectional shoe or tire is obtained, which ap proximates closely to the air support of the continuous inner tubes of tires or shoes made in one piece and such as are now" commonly used on automobiles. In other words, the present invention not only provides for eliminating the objectionable features of the continuous inner air tube and the continuous outer shoe, to-wit:danger to life, delays,

work and expense caused by blow-outs and punctures, but accomplishes this desirable result Without sacrificing or appreciably -diminishing the resiliency and easy riding of the continuous tire. In the present instance, we have illustrated one construction of shoe member or sectionby which this desirableresult isobtained, but it is not desired to limit the invention to the particular construction shown. Moreover, by making the shoe sectlons of the shape shown in Fig.

2, the the will preserve its true circle more nearly than if the shoe sections were molded in the firstplace to conform to the correct circle.

While we have illustrated herein. one embodiment of our invention, we do hot wish to belimited to the constructional details shown.

Having fully described. our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with the rim of a vehicle wheel, of apneumatic tire mounted on said rim and composed of a plurality of shoe members and separate inner air tube members within said shoe members and removable. therefrom, said shoe members having end walls arranged to make contact un-' able the inner tube members within adjav cent shoe members to be elongated and brought substantially close tog ther when f inflated and thus obtain a maxi um circumferential air support, which closely approxiand thereby enable the inner tube me greater resiliency than theintermediate tread portions to permit them to be moved by .the air pressure within the inner tube members and thereby enable the inner tube members within adjacent shoe members to lie-elongated and brought substantially close together when inflated and thus obtain a maximum circtnnferential air support which closely. approximates in efiecta continuous inner air tube. v

A sectional pneumatic tire composed of a plurality of separate shoe members and separate inner air tube members within said shoe members and removable therefrom; said shoe members having end walls arranged to make contact under load and of softer material than the intermediate tread portions to permit them to be moved by the air pressure within the inner tube mem ,ers is within adjacent shoe members to b elongated and brought substantially close together when inflated and thus obtain a maximum circumferential air support which closely approximates in efl'ect a continuous inner air tube.

1. A sectional pneumatic tire composed of a plurality of separate shoe members and separate inner air tube members within said 46 shoe members and removable therefronnsaid shoe members having yielding end walls of softer material than the intermediate tread portion and capable of being moved by the air pressure within the inner tube members to enable the inner tube members within adjacent shoe members to be brought, substantially close together when inflated and tints obtain a maximum circumferential air support which closely approximates in ef- 5-0 feet a continuous inner air tube.

5. A sectional pneumatic t-ire having a plurality of se )arate shoe members provided with softer en walls than the intermediate tread portions and proximity to one another to make contact under load.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MORTON PEABODY PRINCE. CLEMENT M. BERNHEIMER.

Witnesses:

Loms 0. SMITH, BERTHA F. HEUSER.

Copies of this patent may be obtainedifor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

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